The Kindness of Friends

Remember the little boat part that was stolen? It made us very sad.

A used one, if we could have found one, would have cost $25 to $35. Not too bad. We were hoping that a new one would only be $60 to $70.
However, when Adam ordered it, our cost in the end came to $112. Yikes! It was a real punch in the gut, as they say, when he handed me that receipt. It truly hurt to know that someone's selfish action to rob us could come at such a cost -- just a little boat part!
The same day, Adam went to visit a good friend, an older man who has truly sailed the world, across oceans. He's had boats -- big boats, not little 18-foot boats like ours -- all his life. Adam mentioned what had happened. Then they started rummaging around in his old boxes and such, and they found these:

Two matching pulleys. They don't run on a track, but Adam doesn't really want ones that run on a track anymore. He wants ones that are bolted down and not steal-able :) So these are perfect! He returned the new one we'd bought and got our money back (phew!), and soon he'll attach these two to the boat.
In addition, the track and pulley that are on the boat he'll put to new use. They'll go along the back of the deck, and the boom lines will attach to it, and we'll be able to keep our boom from swinging back and forth so much when we tack. So, in the end the theft has been a blessing, not the least of which is the kindness of our old sailing friend who gladly sorted through his old boat pieces to find these for us. I love how God can take a bad thing and make it good.